Merry Christmas, Groove-ophiles! Hope you're enjoying a wonderful day with family and friends (whether you celebrate Christmas or not--everyone needs a wonderful day with family and friends, right?)! It's time to unwrap the big present--and I do mean big, since this story was first published in
Marvel Treasury Edition #25 (December 1979)! "Spider-Man Vs. The Hulk at the Winter Olympics" was a 64 page, tabloid-sized extravaganza featuring Marvel's "TV heroes" at the
1980 Winter Olympics held at Lake Placid New York. While
Spidey and
Greenskin did fight each other (Marvel style) near the end of the story, their main nemeses were the
Mole Man, the
Lava Men, Kala, and some new baddies with names like
Landslide, Digger, Boulder, and
Water Witch. The whole magilla was a pretty cool idea as plotted by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo, and scripted by Mantlo. The art by Herb Trimpe and Bruce Patterson was solid, with some seriously sweet double-page spreads, taking advantage of that gi-normous printing size. Rip off that wrapping paper and enjoy, Groove-ophiles!
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| Can you pick out all the cameos on this page? |
Too bad the Bullpen Gang didn't have a crystal ball, though--then they could have worked in
The Miracle On Ice. Of course, that self-same crystal ball might have warned them that
President Carter was going to pull the U.S. out of the 1980 Summer Olympics--which would mean they wouldn't have created the Treasury Edition that was to become Marvel's first mini-series,
Contest of Champions! Oh, and they might have put Bill Sienkiewicz on the
front cover instead of the
back cover (no offense Al Milgrom and Jack Abel)! And have a holly, jolly day!
Merry Christmas, Groove! Hope you enjoy the holidays to the fullest. And thanks again for all of the wonderful stuff you post, and for this extravaganza.
ReplyDelete(And I'll take a stab at the cameos on that splash page: the entire FF are behind Peter Parker, and I think that's Tony Stark on the other side of his head. Matt Murdock and Natasha/Black Widow are the two large figures in the foreground, and I'm guessing that the guy with his back turned smoking a cigar is supposed to be Jack Kirby, while the couple - also with backs turned to us - in the lower left-hand corner are, based on their dialogue boxes, Herb Trimpe and Linda Fite.)
Never knew this existed. How'd I miss it? I was still collecting then, in those months before heading off to college. Maybe it looked silly to me at the time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting!
I love reading new old gems like these online, so thanks for all the opportunities! :D I only wish there was an option to open all the pages in a group n' click to the next page, etc. :/ because, as it is, my next best only options are to open multiple pages/tabs or keep clicking back & forth waiting for the pages to reload :P but a minor quibble...thanks again & i can't wait to sit down & read this particular larger-sized treasure :) ...happy x-mas!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a Merry Christmas groove.
ReplyDeleteI remember buying this off the magazine rack at a grocery store when I was in the 6th grade. Still have it and in great condition.